A class action against Autowest Dodge and its parent AutoNation was certified as a class action last week in San Francisco Superior Court. We are the attorneys representing the class. The case involves the failure of the dealer to disclose the itemization of capitalized cost in the precise manner required by law. The class also claims the dealer altered the leases after the consumer signed it and left the dealership.

The unauthorized alteration of documents after they are signed is a kind of forgery. Leases are filled out at the dealership in triplicate, or even quadruplicate. The consumer of course thinks the forms are identical. What a shock it is for consumers to discover the bank got more information that they did.

Some consumers did not keep their leases or cannot find them to compare the documents to those produced by the dealer and/or the bank. While this case can be proved otherwise, consumers are well advised to keep all such documents as a routine matter, even after the lease has expired.